nd no doubt use the
knowledge thus gained to further their own interests since their revolt.
Like the English, they were at enmity with Spain, but there was also
another bond of union--both were Protestant. Queen Elizabeth assisted
Holland in gaining her independence, and therefore at this period the
relations between English and Dutch were very cordial. But the
fellow-feeling of enmity to Spain made even the French corsair unite
with the two others, so that pirates, privateers, and traders all
combined against the common foe.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

IV.

RALEGH AND THE FIRST BRITISH COLONIES.

The first grant made by Queen Elizabeth for a settlement in America was
given to Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1578, but the father of English
colonisation was Sir Walter Ralegh. Although considered a rover, or
pirate, by the Spaniards, he was of a different type to Drake, Hawkins,
and the other adventurers of the sixteenth century. Not only was he
famous as a brave warrior, but at the same time as one of the most
learned men of his time; as enterprising in the arts of peace as on the
battlefield.

The "Letters Patent" to Walter Ralegh, Esquire, dated the 25th of March,
1584, may be considered as the first charter of the English colonies.
Under them he was empowered to discover, occupy, and possess barbarous
countries not actually in the possession of any Christian prince, or
inhabited by Christian people, on condition that he reserved to Her
Majesty a fifth of all the gold and silver found therein. He was also
given all the rights of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and empowered
to govern and make laws as long as these laws did not conflict with
those of the mother country, or with the true Christian faith of the
Church of England. Under this charter the first settlement in Virginia
was undertaken, and thus England threw down the gauntlet in the face of
Spain.

However, Ralegh did not confine himself to North America--there were
other countries not in the actual possession of any Christian prince,
the most notable being Guiana. Ralegh had heard the story of "El Dorado"
and of the failures of the many German and Spanish knights. He would
succeed where they had failed. Englishmen had displayed their mettle in
the Indies--if the treasures of Peru and Mexico had raised their enemy
to be "mistress of the world" and "sovereign of the seas," why should
not he also find other golden countries for the benefit of his